Please find attached the following documents (in PDF format):

1. Agenda, with reports, rule change proposals and committee nominations. (Click HERE to view)

2. 2009 AGM Minutes. (Click HERE to view)

3. 2009 Treasurers Report. (Click HERE to view)

PDF files can be read using Abobe Reader. Click HERE for free download.

Any members of clubs affiliated to the IWBA are welcome to attend the AGM. Please contact your club secretary if you have any questions.

Come along and show your support to team-mates and fellow competitors at the IWBA Presentation Evening on Friday, 14th May 2010 at Camphill Social Club.

Doors are open from 7.30pm.

We have the bar until midnight, with the benefit of social club bar prices, and from 8pm we have one of the Island’s leading DJ’s (Tip Top Karaoke & Disco) getting us into the party mood with fantastic music (hopefully including some smoke and bubbles), lighting and optional Karaoke entertainment so all you sports stars can show how multi-talented you are!

There will also be a Buffet and we will be take a break at some point in the evening to draw the Raffle.

Dress is smart casual and it is also important that youthful looking adults bring ID with them if they wish to order at the bar.

Ticket prices are:
Adults – £5.
Students/U21 – £2.50.

Please contact your club secretary to reserve a ticket by the 9th May, as we need a good idea of numbers for organising the Buffet.

On behalf of the IWBA, we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the night for a fun evening to mark the end of the 2009/10 season and start of the summer break.

Best wishes,

Mark.

p.s. This event can also be followed on the ‘Isle of Wight Badminton‘ Facebook group. Click HERE.

Elder brother  John has filled in before this season, having learned his badminton playing casually at Freswwater Sports Centre on a Friday evening for about 4 years.

But younger brother Andy ,who used to be one of the islands top juniors,  hasn’t picked up a raquet for about 25 years.

Readership of the site has grown, especially views of the IWBA League Tables; and the ability to download tournament entry forms, check match dates and upcoming meetings also seems to have proven useful to people.

Now that the 2008/2009 league has finished and all tournaments have been played, an overhaul of the website will be taking place to reposition the focus of the website and ensure everything is in place before preparations for the 2009/2010 season commence.

The purpose of this restructure and upgrade is so that the website better addresses the objectives of the IWBA. The current site content and layout is very much focused on league, county and tournament activities. The players involved in these activities come from the more committed base of Badminton players on the Island, but there is currently nothing to address the following aspects of Badminton on the Island:

• Supporting social players.
• Encouraging new players to start playing, both juniors and adults.
• Developing the path from social playing to competitive playing.
• Developing the standard of Badminton played.
• Information on how to get started.
• Raising awareness of Badminton health benefits and enjoyment.
• Advertising coaching/training courses.

I’m sure there are others, but these ones have become apparent or been mentioned to me in discussions with other players.

The changes will be starting immediately and will be aim to put in place a better structure for the future that will allow content for the above to be published with greater visibility and provide features to promote priorities more easily.

Additional features will also be introduced for clubs/groups to encourage better communication with the playing community, such as the ability for all club secretaries to publish things like news and event articles on the website. IWBA committee members responsible for different aspects of the IWBA’s activities will also be encouraged to disseminate information through publishing articles so that we have a more informed readership.

You will therefore see regular changes in the website over the next couple of months, which may include a few occassions where the website cannot be accessed. I apologise in advance for any disruption to normal service and/or parts of the site which spend some time blank or incomplete during this period.

Follow-up articles will be published as and when certain stages are completed.

I encourage all players to login and comment on this article if they have any ideas or suggestions for the website.

Coverage starts on Friday 6th at 5pm, with semi’s on Saturday 7th and and Finals on Sunday 8th. A great chance to see how it should be done!

It looks like Planet Badminton might be putting up some recorded matches onto youtube after the tournament aswell and I will post links to these if they do.

The new site is based on the brand new version of the WordPress software and a new layout has been adopted, which should make it easier to develop the website and also make it easier to use.

If you previously registered on the original site, then you are still a registered member, but part of the database upgrade required that all passwords were cleared, as they are confidential and could not be copied, but all you need to do is attempt to log-in and use the ‘Forgot Your Password’ facility to request a password reset.

For information on using this site and contributing please read the article ‘Using This Site‘.

The aims of this site (subject to review by IWBA committee) are as follows:

1. Communicate information to IWBA affiliated badminton players, clubs and other stakeholders.
2. Provide information to the wider Badminton community regarding badminton activities, events and development on the Isle of Wight.
3. Promote Badminton on the Isle of Wight.
4. Act as a resource portal for all things Badminton related.

Everyone if free to join the website and post comments/feedback to articles and other content on the site. Additionally, all members who are affiliated to the IWBA will be able to contribute to the website, which can be done through posting such items as match reports, club news, events, appeals, course news etc etc. Such contributions remain unpublished until an Editor approves the content.

As soon as a site member is confirmed as an genuine IWBA affiliated member then their membership status is changed to that of a Contributor and they can then submit content to the website. Training in the use of Wordpress, which powers this site, can be found at www.wordpress.org or you can contact myself, Mark Eden, as I am currently acting Webmaster and am happy to offer some tution to those interested.

At the time of writing this, November 2008, the new look site has just been relaunched and it will take time to develop the site into a valuable resource, both for the IWBA and the wider Badminton community in general.

Please join the site and try making a comment on an article and even submitting your own article if you have something to share.

As an immediate starting point, please comment on this article with any comments/ideas/suggestions/requests you might have.